Eden
In the beginning of our human family, God created a unique creature He called man.
[Later on, this man is going to be a message or a picture to the rest of the human race as well as to all the spirit beings.]
The man had the task of naming all the animals. He no doubt gave them something like a scientific name as well as a personal name. Maybe it was something like Canis lupus (wolf) or Panthera leo (lion) whom he may also have named Fluffy. Of important note, the man never gave any creature his own name because nothing in all creation was like him. God is going to provide companionship for the man and a system and institution for the propagation of the race but He doing something more. He is telling us something about Himself.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen 2:18 ESV)
Is the eternal God suggesting that He needs a suitable companion? Good luck, because in all existence there is no person like God. Maybe God could create a being like Himself. It still would not be like Him enough, though. It would never be an eternal being (like God) because it would have a beginning.
What if a creature could be so constructed so that it could house the eternal Spirit in a way that He could becoming one with it somehow? That's a different story.
Back to the first man.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet (fit) for him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made (“builded”) he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (Gen 2)
So far, God has created a creature, man. He has created a perfect environment for him. It was not near perfect, like the Millennium will be. It was total sinlessness. God saw that His world was complete, very good, and perfect. Then God says that this perfect world is not good. Perfection is not good? Aloneness in the midst of perfection is not perfect completeness, the way God wants to see it. God takes something out of the man and builds another creature. He does not create something new. He takes something out of the side of the man and builds something like the man. Exactly like him, yet different. This being is the man's opposite. It is like a mirror image. Something is inexplicably “right” about the woman's presence. She is not his imagination. She is not his servant. She is a companion that is perfectly suited for him.
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Gen 5:2)
God had completed the man, not by creating another man, but by building a creature out of the man himself. God called their name Adam or Man. He gave the two of them one name.
The two, yet one, were deceived/rebelled against God and fell into sin. The human race was now ruined. This is the world that we know today.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (Gen 3:20)
Many terrible and strange things happened with the fall. The male now gives the other one her own name, Eve or Life Giver.
Notice the succession of events.
1- Existence of absolute perfection.
2- Introduction of one man into this sinless world.
3- Building of a woman from something that comes out of the man.
4- They both have one name.
5- The fall into sin and its resulting curse.
6- The woman receives her own name.
None of this caught God by surprise. I live in a very sparsely populated area. Sometimes it is difficult to believe there are a thousand people on the planet. Some say there are 8 billion people on the earth today. Maybe not that many but many. I have flown into the airport in Mexico City several times. It was considered the most populous city in the world at one time, recently. The pilot announces that we are beginning our descent. When I look out the window of the plane I see an ocean of buildings, large and small. An airliner is traveling at about 230 mph while it descends. At that great speed I see us flying over thousands of houses which seem to keep going on and on and they keep going nearly forever. Sometimes it is easy to believe that there are 8 billion people on the planet. Some estimate there have been at least that many more in all of human history (15 billion+).
They each have a personal name. Most will have a family name as well. That is a lot of individuals. If you are a descendant of Adam you have the genetic disorder of sin. That means you and I are separated from Holiness and Life forever.
However, something marvelous happens in about the middle of human history. Jesus was sent by God to be the sacrificial substitute for the sin of the human race. It is much more than having our sins forgiven, as vital as that is.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I …give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, ... (Rev 2:17)
Jesus promises to overcomers that they will receive a new name. In this life that you and I live in now we can have a new name.
Do they not blaspheme the precious name [of Christ] by which you are called? (James 2:7 AMP)
We, who are believers in Jesus Christ, have been given a new name, His name! We had all been given a name by our natural parents. When we come to Jesus, we are given His name. Mr. Johnson gets married. It does not matter what his bride's name used to be. They are now both Johnson, Mr. and Mrs.
How did we get to be this way? God made Jesus fall into a deep sleep, the sleep of death. He took something from His side and “builded” a companion. It was by blood and water that we have been purchased and reborn. In our spirit is now a new thing that never existed before.
Jesus prayed that we would be one with God. He asked for the same oneness that Jesus had with the Father. This would be blasphemous if Jesus had not allowed His prayer to be recorded for all time (John 17:21).
So, do we become God? No. Never, but that is alright because One of already is! We have a future that is unthinkable and unspeakable (2Cor 9:15, 12:14).
Notice, please, the succession of events because of Jesus' obedience.
6- We are one of billions of Adam's natural descendants.
5- God's mercy is shown in the Cross.
4- We are now called by the name of Christ.
3- God is now preparing a suitable companion for Himself.
2- God is going to introduce The New Man, Jesus, to rule over the earth in a thousand years reign in a (near) perfect environment.
1- The end of the 1,000 years marks the beginning of an everlasting era of absolute perfection with the Redeemed, Jesus, and the Father living in a unity that is beyond comprehension.
See how this is the exact reverse of what happened in the fall of man. All men, both redeemed and unsaved with all earthly creatures and all beings in the spiritual dimension, angels and rebels, will see the unsurpassed wisdom of God. They will all confess that Jesus is Lord and the Father is supreme.
He Who gives this warning and affirms and testifies to these things says, Yes (it is true). [Surely] I am coming quickly (swiftly, speedily). Amen (so let it be)! Yes, come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20 AMPC)
Mar. 12, 2024